"Some people say [the gunmen] were trying to make a statement. I don't believe that for a minute," Fogarty said.

'We're not perfect. ...This one kind of slipped by us.'—RCMP Supt. Pat Fogarty

Police were aware that 30-year-old Bacon had been meeting lately with a full-patch member of the Hells Angels and an alleged Independent Soldiers gang member, said Fogarty. But they had no hint there was about to be a significant slaying in broad daylight in sunny Kelowna, 275 kilometres east of Vancouver.

"It's not like we would let something like that happen," he said, noting officers had warned Bacon and the other men several times there were threats on their lives, though he wouldn't say how recently.

"We're not perfect. ...This one kind of slipped by us."

Various RCMP detachments and officers within the combined forces' special enforcement unit, which includes the task force, are now investigating the high-profile killing and working to find out whether any gangs might be mounting a counterattack.

Sgt. Peter Thiessen said the 32-year-old man suffered only minor injuries. He had been with three other men, including his 28-year-old brother, when the targeted hit outside a night club.

But investigators said Tuesday it's too early to know if the gunfire is linked to the Kelowna shooting.

Fogarty noted there are some 120 gangs in British Columbia and police have said in the past that the violence is part of several gang wars, not just one.

Deadly shoot-outs marred Vancouver-area streets for several months in 2009, in part based on the rivalry between the United Nations gang and the Red Scorpions, which police have long said was controlled by the three Bacon brothers.

Getaway vehicle found

Jonathan Bacon and his youngest brother Jamie have escaped attempted assassinations in the past.

Jonathan Bacon had been the target of a murder attempt in the past. (CBC)

No arrests have been made in the new violence so far, and Fogarty wouldn't say who police suspect.

Witnesses say at least one man in a balaclava emerged from a silvery-green SUV on Sunday afternoon and sprayed the Porsche in front with bullets. The assailants took off, and officers were examining a burnt-out vehicle found later that day.

It's not yet known who was the shooter's intended target, or even if it was all three men. Shared business interests allegedly based on the illegal drug trade -- in particular, cocaine brought up from Mexico and South America -- is what most likely brought the group together, Fogarty said.

Such a business-based alliance is common in the gang world, he said, especially when members aren't raking in the kind of cash they'd like to on their own.

"They're not as tight as you think they are, there's no loyalty here," Fogarty said.